The present invention relates generally to the diagnosis and treatment of patients having tumors or lesions. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of and system for locating and treating such tumors or lesions in which the same three-dimensional coordinate system used in diagnosing the location of the tumors or lesions is used to provide treatment for those tumors or lesions, by use of a computer and a stereotaxic ring.
Although a brain lesion as small as 2-3 millimeters can be localized on a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) scanner, it cannot be treated with a correspondingly small radiation field(s) because the geometrical error associated with the information transfer from scanner to a computer to an accelerator and then to the patient is greater than the dimensions of the lesion itself. Thus, the ability to conduct precision radiotherapy using, for example, x-rays, is determined by the overall accuracy of the whole radiation therapy process, and not by the precision achieved in the individual diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.
While in the last fifteen years new technology has been introduced for nearly every procedure utilized in the diagnosis and treatment of brain lesions (for example, CT and MR scanners, treatment planning computers, compact linear accelerators, etc.), no system and/or equipment has been offered or is available for integrating the radiotherapy process. Consequently, the overall precision of the process has not yet improved to the extent made possible by present knowledge and technology.
This application discloses a computer controlled stereotaxic radiotherapy system which integrates, using a patient halo or headpiece, the diagnosis, treatment planning, and subsequent repetitive radiotherapy treatment for treating such lesions.
Stereotactic devices for use in aiding treatment of lesions are known. Examples of such stereotactic apparatus include U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,798 to Shelden et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,925 to Laitinen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,977 to Brown; U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,622 to Bar et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,069 to Barbier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,220 to Perry; U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,112 to Kopf; U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,615 to Carol; U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,934 to Brunnett; U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,665 to Gouda; U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,550 to Bremer et al. and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 288,368 to Van Buren et al.
While some of the above-referenced patents disclose utilizing a computer to analyze and determine the coordinates of a lesion with reference to a ring or halo attached to the patient's head during diagnosis, such as the Shelden et al. and Gouda patents, none of those references are concerned with a computer controlled radiotherapy system which utilizes the coordinates developed from a CT or MR scanner. Not until applicants' invention was a system developed which integrates, under computer control, the processing of the coordinates locating the lesion during diagnosis and the subsequent processing and utilization of those coordinates by the treatment apparatus.